Education foundation quadruples grant awards

A UMNS Report By Linda Green*

United Methodist annual conference foundations have joined the partnership among local churches, higher education institutions and the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation to quadruple the amount of scholarship money a United Methodist student may use for school.

The "Quadruple Your Dollars for Scholars" is a new component of the 10-year old "United Methodist Dollars for Scholars" program of the denominational foundation. Participating conference foundations will provide an additional $1,000 to recipients sponsored by a church in their respective conferences for a total scholarship award of up to $4,000.

In Dollars for Scholars, the foundation matches local congregations that raise $1,000 for a member enrolled or planning to enroll in a United Methodist-related college, university or seminary. Some higher education institutions provided another match beginning in 2006.

The matching scholarship program originally awarded 100 scholarships, but the number of first-come, first-served scholarships awarded increased yearly as funds became available.

The quadruple component is the result of "conference foundations (that) have stepped up and said we see value in the matching program and want to affirm students as well," said Cheryl Davis, the foundation's executive vice president. "The United Methodist Dollars for Scholars is about saying to students that you are part of The United Methodist Church and that we value your talents and leadership abilities."

Making a difference
Davis said Dollars for Scholars "is making a difference in the church and forging closer relationships between our students, churches and United Methodist higher education institutions. That is what the foundation exists to do, and we have been blessed by the results of this program."

The program was tripled in 2006 with participation from higher education institutions. During the foundation's recent meeting March 1-3 in Dallas, 16 more academic institutions became partners. In all, 84 of the denomination's 123 colleges, universities and seminaries are participating in the program's "triple" dollars segment for 2007.

The genesis of the quadruple matching Dollars for Scholars component is the North Georgia United Methodist Foundation, which has been quadrupling local church awards for the three years. The Oklahoma and California United Methodist Foundations also quadruple local church matching awards.

The vision of the Nashville, Tenn.-based United Methodist Higher Education Foundation is to make it economically possible for any qualified Untied Methodist student to be educated at a United Methodist institution of higher learning.

Including the matches by conference foundations, the foundation will award more than $1 million in scholarships to 344 United Methodist Dollars for Scholars awards for the 2007-08 academic year. Twenty-five of those are designated for Hispanic, Asian and Native American students.

To be considered, applications must have a March 15 postmark and arrive through standard mail.

Kresge Award
The foundation gave the 2007 "Stanley S. Kresge Award" to Stanley M. Howe for his contributions to Iowa Wesleyan College.

Howe is a member of Wesleyan United Methodist Church in Muscatine, Iowa, and was appointed to school's board of trustees in 1975. In 2004, he established the Howe Foundation Challenge Grant, matching dollar-for-dollar up to $15 million in gifts for the college.

"Simply stated, Iowa Wesleyan College would not be where it is today without the support of Dr. Stan Howe," said William N. Johnston, president of Iowa Wesleyan College, which nominated Howe for the award.

The Kresge Award was established in 1987 to honor members of The United Methodist Church who embody two important characteristics of the life of the late Stanley S. Kresge: dedicated membership in The United Methodist Church and unselfish support of United Methodist-related education.

"Dr. Howe exemplifies the motto of 'leadership that changes lives.' His commitment to church, community, and education cannot be overstated," said Johnston. "… His personal involvement and exemplary generosity have positively impacted thousands of church members and students, with effects that will be felt for many generations to come."

For more information on the United Methodist Dollars for Scholars program, including application criteria, visit the foundation's Website at www.umhef.org or e-mail umhef@gbhem.org or (800) 811-8110.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.